I have been reading a book by Bear Grylls called “Survival Guide for Life”. Bear details many different short, pithy statements that he practices as he walks through life. I read one today that resonated with something that Ignite does every week: praying together. The title of the chapter was “The will to win means nothing without the will to train”. He talked about the need to train before entering a race, competition or any type of survival opportunity. Without training, a person will not have the edge needed to persevere during resistance, challenge or adversity. Training builds muscle, strength and fortitude that nothing else does.

I told our team today on the prayer call that I liken prayer to training. As we pray, we are building connection with God, developing strength beyond our own and growing spiritual muscle that will carry us through the challenges ahead. Jesus told his disciples after they wondered why they had been unable to drive out a demon, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9: 29) He was letting them know that they had to build their pool of strength deeper if they wanted to take on some of the challenges they were going to encounter. The best way to dig the pool deep: go into prayer training.

This is one reason we take the exercise of prayer very seriously at Ignite, we want to have the strength and resiliency needed to get through the challenges we constantly face. We want to have the energy and focus needed to embrace the opportunities that come our way. We want to have the wisdom needed to know what is a distraction vs. a new direction. These things can only be faced by drawing on God’s power through prayer.

Strength is built through training. Ability comes as we repeat good practices consistently. Victory is seeded on the practice field. We at Ignite will practice the vital things (prayer), so we can take hold of the opportunities ahead.

(Our weekly conference prayer call is open to everyone. We pray every Wednesday at 8 am CDT. The call-in number is (518) 530-1840, the meeting ID is: 471-669-428#. Call in some Wednesday and join us.)